Content

Comments

Comments are reusable text blocks that can be used in tandem with the status of a permit application. Comments are defined once, and then reused as needed.

For example, permit processors commonly reject permit applications due to the requester not meeting the minimum insurance requirements. Instead of typing the reason (“does not meet insurance requirements…”) each time a permit application is rejected for this reason, you can create and select a reusable comment that contains the text sent to the requester.

When a comment is defined in the Comment settings area (seen below):

it will result in a "Facility Use Conflict" choice in the Comments field when changing a permit request status. The comment's text will be used in the permit history and notifications sent to the requester.

Content Blocks

Content blocks are text blocks used on certain pages within Civic Permits. You can edit each content block as needed.

New permit request form. Text that appears on the right column of the permit application form.

New event form. Text that appears on the right column of the new event form (the new event form is used by schools to add school events and bypass the permit process).

Invoice remittance instructions. Text that appears at the top of an invoice.

Permit Questions

Civic Permits allows your district to customize the questions on your permit application. Questions can be added, edited, and deleted. You have also have control over the sort order of the questions.

Adding a new question

1. Click New to open the new question form.
2. Enter a Name for your question. This name is not seen on the permit application and is only used for reference within this Permit Questions settings area (in the left hand column). Example of a Name: Item Sales.
3. Enter the question text in the Text to appear on the request form field. This is the actual question/text that will appear on the permit application. Example: Is the activity open to the public?
4. Select the type of question you are creating from the option under Element Type. You can choose from the following:

Element types

Static Text

Used to create instructions, notes, etc. to be displayed within the permit question section of the permit application.  For example, you could create “Youth Applicants Only” static text and make this text appear at the top of a series of questions for youth group applicants.

Text

Used for typical “fill in” questions. For example, if you create a question that requests the total estimated attendance, you would select Text as the Element Type. This would generate an input field that requesters can use to enter in the total estimated attendance.

The following Options can be configured for each Text element type:

Required question: Select this option if you want to make this question a required question. Requester will be required to answer this question in order to submit the permit application.

Validate text input: Select this option if you want to perform basic checking of the answers your requesters provide.

Regular expression: In order to validate text input, regular expressions must be used. Regular expressions are a widely used technical way of analyzing user input and checking for certain patterns. Regular expressions are technical in nature and should only be used by Civic Permits or by your IT departments. There are many resources for regular expressions on the Internet. Here is basic overview from Microsoft: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff650303.aspx (see the Common Regular Expressions section). 

Error message: This is an error message that is displayed if the validation fails. For example, you are using the following regular expression to validate that the Text field contains a number greater than zero: ^\d+$ and the requester enters the word thirty in the input field. The validation will fail because thirty is not a number greater than 0 (the user should have entered 30). Upon validation failure, the error message is displayed: e.g. Please enter a whole number greater than zero.

List of options

This creates a drop-down list of options for a requester to choose from when answering the question. The requester can only select one answer.

The following Options can be configured for each List of options element type:

Required question: Select this option if you want to make this question a required question. The requester will be required to answer this question in order to submit the permit application.

Available options: Enter the items you wish to appear in the drop-down list that can be selected by the requester. Each item must entered on a single line within the “Available Options” field.

List of options (allow multiple selections)

This creates a check box list of options for a requester to choose from when answering the question. The requester can select more than one answer.

The following Options can be configured for each List of options element type:

Required question: Select this option if you want to make this question a required question. The requester will be required to answer this question in order to submit the permit application.

Available options: Enter the items you wish to appear in the check box list that can be selected by the requester. Each item must entered on a single line within the “Available Options” field.

Editing an existing question

You can edit an existing permit question by clicking on the question name, editing the question as needed, and then clicking on the Save button. The changes will be immediately live and any changes to questions will not affect past permit applications.

Changing the order of permit questions

Permit questions can be displayed and sorted in any order you wish. Within the “Permit Questions Name” column, simply drag and drop the questions and place them in the order you want. The changes are immediately live.

Terms & Conditions (Facility Use)

The Terms & Conditions (Facility Use) form allows you to configure terms and conditions that must be accepted by a requester in order to submit a permit application. These terms and conditions are linked to at the bottom of the permit application, stating: “By submitting this request for a permit, you agree to the Facility Use Terms and Conditions.”